Saturday, July 27, 1996

Junior Sectionals Begin Here Tuesday

By MARK WILSON
Staff Writer

A little less might turn out to be better for this year's Hendrick Center for Rehabilitation Championship Junior Sectionals.

Tournament director David Davis said Friday that the tennis tournament, which will begin its eighth year in Abilene on Tuesday at four sites, will conclude one day earlier this year. Matches will be played at Abilene High, Cooper, Fairway Oaks Country Club and Rose Park Tennis Center.

This is the fifth year in a row that the tournament's primary sponsor has been Hendrick Center for Rehabilitation.

Because the tournament features both a draw of 64 in singles as well as feed-in consolation, shortening the tournament isn't an easy task.

Only one match - the final in boys 16 consolation - is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 4. All championship matches and other consolation finals will be held at Rose Park Tennis Center, the tournament headquarters, on either Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

Davis said that an effort was made to shrink the tournament's span, after getting input from those involved in the past.

"That scares them, when they know they're going to have to play a tournament that lasts a whole week," said Davis, who is the head pro at Rose Park. "I think this will help the turnout for future years."

Approximately 1,200 to 1,500 visitors are expected in Abilene next week.

"We will have hundreds of visitors in Abilene," Davis said. "Approximately 400 championship junior players are registered."

Davis said that while junior tournament entries around the state seem to be down, the 330 singles entries this year, ranging from age 12-18, represents only a slight decline from last year.

"This tournament is the most important for the players coming here," Davis said. "This weighs more heavily toward their ranking."

Points toward rankings earned here count double compared to an open tournament, while points earned in championship major zone tournaments count only 11/2 times as much. Winning a singles division in the Abilene tournament will give players at the championship level all 64 points needed to advance to super championship status.

Among the 23 Abilene entrants are seven seeded players: Kelly Harding and Alison Gibson, No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in girls 18 singles; Beau Cox, No. 3 in boys 14 singles; Cody Chapman, No. 4 in boys 16 singles; Kristen Keeble, No. 4 in girls 16 singles; Caroline Scott, No. 8 in girls 14 singles; and Matthew Smith, No. 12 in boys 16 singles.

Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m., a tournament banquet for the players will be held at Rose Park Tennis Center. The banquet will feature several presentations, including a statewide sportsmanship award.